Fantasy Recap: Week 7

James Morris hails from Rio Rancho, NM and has been playing fantasy sports for just over 15 years. Not only does he write the Bengals fantasy section, but he also does the Miami Dolphins fantasy section. Crossing over, Morris writes the fantasy sections for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. Just send him an email and he will reply back the same day with your answer. Or, find him on Twitter (Fantasyguy23) and get all your NFL news before it hits the national media.

Week 7 of the NFL season was full of highs and lows. From Chris Johnson finally breaking out, all the way down to Calvin Johnson getting shut down by a stifling Bears defense, fantasy owners saw the full range of value this week.

WHO DEY nation was no exception as the two most explosive Bengals fantasy options (Andy Dalton and A.J. Green) narrowly missed the dreaded losers list thanks to an 8-yard TD pass in the second quarter. I still have faith in the Bengals on offense and defense, and a loss to the Steelers is nothing to be ashamed of. WHO DEY!

WINNERS

Josh Freeman – QB, Buccaneers: I knew Freeman would have a big day, and he was huge for those smart enough to grab him and start him this week. The Saints gave up a ridiculous 420 yards passing and 3 TDs to Freeman, which gave him the No. 2 QB ranking for Week 7 in fantasy football (Drew Brees with 377 yards and 4 TDs was No. 1).

Ryan Fitzpatrick – QB, Bills: In true Ryan Fitzpatrick style, the Bills QB threw for just 225 yards, but managed to toss in 3 TDs and just a single INT. I personally think it had more to do with the horrible Titans defense than the skill of the Bills offense, but stats are stats and the 16.4 percent of NFL.com owners who started him will take it.

Chris Johnson – RB, Titans: Just like Fitzpatrick, this good game had more to do with the poor defense than a great offense. CJ2K ran for 195 yards and 2 TDs, and looked like a Pro Bowler in doing so. You have to play him again next week as he faces the Colts, so don’t think he is one-and-done.

LaRod Stephens-Howling – RB, Cardinals: “The Hyphen” scampered his way to 104 yards on the ground, 45 yards in the air via 4 catches, and found the end zone once on Sunday. In NFL.com PPR formats, LSH finished the week ranked No. 3, and will be a hot commodity when the waiver wire opens on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller – RBs, Bills: Jackson finished with 71 yards rushing, 8 catches for 49 yards and a TD, while Spiller racked up 70 yards rushing and 6 catches for 32 yards on Sunday. Jackson was the No. 2-ranked fantasy RB, while Spiller was ranked No. 11 in NFL.com PPR scoring. It is rare to see two RBs on the same team finish as fantasy RB1s, but that is just what the Titans defense did for the Bills ground game this weekend.

Vincent Jackson – WR, Buccaneers: I told people who emailed me, or found me on various social media sites to start V-Jax and you all owe me some high-5s. Jackson finished with 7 catches for 216 yards and a TD on Sunday, and easily the No. 1 ranking at WR for Week 7. When your QB throws for 400-plus yards, you can bet your WR1 had himself a good fantasy day as well.

Randall Cobb – WR, Packers: Cobb shined once again with Greg Jennings out as he hauled in 8 passes for 89 yards and 2 TDs, and ran for another 19 yards on the ground. Cobb is only owned in 33.9 percent of NFL.com leagues, but his value is going to be limited going forward with the Packers hoping to have Jennings back next week.

Dustin Keller – TE, Jets: Keller is owned in just 51.0 percent of NFL.com leagues, but he finished Week 7 as the No. 2-ranked TE in fantasy football. His 7 catches for 93 yards and a TD was good enough for 22 points in NFL.com PPR formats. He is as risky of a play as they come, so don’t plug him into your fantasy starting lineup just yet.

Houston Texans Defense: The Texans put a beating on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday and the defense finished the fantasy week ranked No. 1 in the NFL. The Texans racked up 4 sacks, 2 INTs, a safety and a defensive touchdown. They did give up 13 points, but that doesn’t matter as they put up 21 fantasy points this week.

LOSERS

Christian Ponder – QB, Vikings: I told you to sit Ponder, but did you listen? The Vikings QB was by far the worst fantasy QB in the NFL this weekend as he threw for 58 yards (not a typo, 58 passing yards), 2 INTs and just a lone TD. I had no idea Ponder would be this bad, but you can bet he will hit a lot of waiver wires after this weekend.

Russell Wilson – QB, Seahawks: One has to wonder if Wilson is thanking God right now for Ponder putting up the game he did, because people might just forget about what he didn’t do on Thursday night. The rookie finished with 122 passing yards, an INT and no end zone visits. He is only owned in 8.8 percent of NFL.com leagues, so only the truly dead teams were hit by this nightmare.

DeAngelo Williams – RB, Panthers: Williams was amazingly horrible for fantasy owners on Sunday as he rushed two times for 4 yards. Coach Ron Rivera confirmed after the game that Williams was not injured, just apparently just left out of the game plan. Williams is owned in 84.6 percent of NFL.com leagues, but in 0.0 percent of my teams for this exact reason.

Maurice Jones-Drew – RB, Jaguars: MJD was carted off the field with a foot injury, and showed up back on the sidelines in the third quarter wearing sweats and sporting crutches. All totaled he finished with two carries for 6 yards. The early report out of Jacksonville is that he will miss “several weeks,” meaning Rashad Jennings is a must-own player in all formats.

Brandon Lloyd – WR, Patriots: Lloyd was worth a fantasy play the first four weeks of the season (25 catches for 287 yards), but since then he has just 10 catches for 120 yards and no scores. One of those catches and six of those yards came this week as he hurt the 95.4 percent of people that own him in NFL.com leagues.

Dez Bryant – WR, Cowboys: Apparently the groin injury kept Bryant out of the game plan, as he was targeted just three times, which was the fifth-most on the Cowboys. He was held to just 14 yards on 2 catches. Bryant is always a dangerous player on the field, but this groin injury could make for some interesting fantasy playing going forward.

Kyle Rudolph – TE, Vikings: Rudolph’s lack of production (0 catches) is due to his QB's inability to move the ball in the air, so this isn’t the end of fantasy value for Rudolph. He did have a 19-yard catch, but it was called back due to a penalty. Rudolph is still a legit TE1 moving forward, and this is a great time to buy low on him.

Baltimore Ravens Defense: And on the other end of the defensive spectrum, we have the Baltimore Ravens. I warned people to stay away from them following some serious injuries, and they made me look like a genius as they gave up 35 points and only added 2 sacks for their fantasy stats. This poor performance netted their owners (96.8 percent owned, 87.7 percent started) -2 points this week, which means you would have literally been better off playing the Dolphins defense on a bye week and taking the 0 points!

The fantasy football season is a marathon, not a sprint. But like any race, there comes a point where you have to dig deep and push out every last bit of strength you have to edge out a win over your opponent.